Apple and Linux are engaged in battle – a battle to win over disgruntled Windows users. But who will win, and what will the consequences be for the loser? The most commonly held belief amongst Apple and Linux fanboys is that both factions are engaged in some kind of a war with Microsoft. The truth is that if you look at the market share figure for Windows, Mac and Linux, both Mac OS and all the Linux distros that have ever been released are dwarfed by Windows.

1. I was referring to the number of os veriations not software titles. Linux basically has too many distro's for average joe to make a decision (granted, Ubuntu is starting to change that).

2. Look up supply and demand for homogenous vs. non-homogenous goods. Then look at where PC's, Macs, Windows, OS X , and linux fit into that. its really not that complicated, people are always willing to pay what they perceive something is worth. In reality, a diamond is an almost worthless (and common) rock.

3. I'm all for Open source software. its great, so what.

you fail to see how ubuntu doesn't do that. Do a random survey of people on a street and see how many people have heard of Ubuntu.

"and concealing their weakness" - its called marketing.

PS: Just because you don't agree or don't understand doesn't mean the other person doesn't know what they're talking about.